Be Sure to Thank Your Mail Carrier This Christmas

It's that time of year. It's Christmas. The songs, the lights, the cookies, the shopping, the mistletoe, the family gatherings...... Aw, forget all that! THE PRESENTS!

Be honest, no matter how much we say it's not the gifts that matter, or how much we try to instill in our kids that it's better to give than to receive, getting presents is pretty darned fun. Sure, it really doesn't matter what it is and I, for one, do think it's fun to shop for gifts for others. But there's no doubt that getting presents at Christmas sends a little bit of child like excitement through even the grinchiest of grinches on your list.

Another fun tradition during the holidays are Christmas cards. Cards of all shapes and sizes. Envelopes in bright colors. Precious little notes telling you someone thought enough of you to not only buy and write the card but also to brave the post office this time of year and spend their well earned .44 cents (it's still .44 cents right?) on wishing you happy holidays. From family and friends you see everyday, to people you've never even met in person (cause we all have internet friends these days), to even the people we don't particularly care for (oh come on, like I'm the only one!). Sending and getting Christmas cards is a tradition many of us enjoy this time of year.

Now let's stop for a minute and think about this. Who is it that brings us our holiday cheer? Sure, someone else pays for it and puts the bows and ribbons and happy holiday wishes in them. But without one very important person you might not ever receive these little bundles of joy. Who brings it all to us? Also, today many people shop online as well. This requires someone to deliver the package to either you or the person you've intended it for. There's always family who have moved away or dear friends who don't live next door anymore. Without certain people between you and your loved ones the gifts would go undelivered, unopened, maybe even unbought! How sad.

Anyone guess who these important people I'm referring to are? Yes. The mailman, or mail carrier, or postal working or delivery person or the UPS guy (sigh). Whatever you refer to them as, it is they who are the key links between you and friends and family and the presents you secretly hope for. They are the ones who bring you the wool sweater your grandma in Norway has sent to you in California. They are the ones who bring you the Christmas card from your best friend from high school who lives across the country now. They are the ones who deliver the goods to you and for you. Yes, in today's world we have Facebook and e-mails and Tweetles, or whatever. We even have telephones that take and send pictures and messages to other phones far away. But isn't there something special about getting a card or a letter or a package in the mail?

From the day after Thanksgiving until sometime after January 1st (cause let's face it, we're not always all on the ball), the post office and mail carriers work frantically to make sure you get your cards and gifts in good time. Our mailman, for instance, hand delivered that wool sweater from grandma to our door. Grandma didn't write a number address on the package. Our last name was the only thing identifying where the package belonged. Had our mail man not taken the time to notice our last name, or had gone on vacation, or just didn't care, the package would have been returned. What a shame that would have been considering the effort and money grandma put into making and sending the gift. It's small things like that which make me appreciate our mail man (and yes, he's a man). And who's heart doesn't skip a beat at the sound of the UPS truck rolling down their street? (and not just in anticipation of seeing those little brown shorts walking back to the truck away from your door). It's hope that someone might have sent you a little something, or that whatever you've ordered for someone else has arrived.

For the past five years I've been sure to put a Christmas card with a candy cane attached to it in our mailbox addressed to "Our mailman", thanking him for all his hard work and wishing him happy holidays. The first year I did this he was so grateful he actually walked up to the house to thank us. It's a very small gesture but it seemed to make him happy and now we exchange Christmas cards every year.

This holiday season why not acknowledge your mail carrier for the hard work they do throughout the year. Most of the time they are invisible to us doing their jobs while we're away at work or out living our busy lives. And yes, most of the time they deliver us stuff we don't want, bills bills bills, but that's their job. They also deliver nuggets of happiness such as all sorts of announcements, postcards from traveled lands, birthday wishes and once in a while, actual hand written letters from other lives which are important to us. They are an important key to what is the happiest time of the year to many people, bringing friends and family straight to our door for one moment. Without them you wouldn't have any Christmas greetings from across the globe or from across town. You wouldn't get any presents from... well who cares where they're from! You wouldn't get any presents!!

Go on. Give your mail carrier a small token of your appreciation this year. It could be as simple as a Christmas card or a candy cane. You could give them a bag of homemade cookies or an ornament for their tree or even a small decoration for their truck! Maybe you can afford a visa or Target gift certificate or one for a local eatery. If you have kids let them participate. Tell them who the card or gift is for and why. Let them run out and give it to the mail carrier as they make their rounds even. It's something that will make more than just your mail carrier happy. Because, as we all know, it is always better to give than to receive.